The most significant French sociologist since Durkheim, Pierre Bourdieu's influence on intellectual life shows no sign of abating. He was a prolific and consequential scholar whose impact can be measured by the Social Science Citation Index and international surveys of academics. Conceptualizations, such as habitus and field, his heuristic treatment of cultural, economic, political, social and symbolic capital to analyze the uses of power, and his insistence upon melding the usually separated micro and macro levels of societal theorizing are now embedded in the basic vocabulary of sociology and anthropology. Whether or not in accord with his outlook, serious scholars are obliged to test themselves against his challenges.

Bourdieu also played a considerable role as a public intellectual, taking positions on questions vital to France and to the world more generally. Many of his contributions stem from his important research projects: colonialism, educational inequality, the social foundations of taste in the arts and life styles, social reproduction of status relationships, and more recently, the impact of unchecked globalism on the disadvantaged. The articles in this book represent a sampling of the most recent and durable of the ongoing conversations, debates, and research orientations that Bourdieu launched.

This collection offers insight into central features of Bourdieu's sociology as well as examples of original research inspired by Bourdieua (TM)s work. It will be of great relevance to students of social theory, French culture and theory, political sociology, sociology of culture and education.

This volume is based in large part on a special issue of the journal Theoryand Society [The sociology of Symbolic Power: A Special Issue in Memory of Pierre Bourdieu] edited by David L. Swartz, with the editorial collaboration of Vera L. Zolberg Vol. 332/5-6 (December 2003) Kluwer Academic Publishers.

The most significant French sociologist since Durkheim, Pierre Bourdieu's influence on intellectual life shows no sign of abating. He was a prolific and consequential scholar whose impact can be measured by the Social Science Citation Index and international surveys of academics. Conceptualizations, such as habitus and field, his heuristic treatment of cultural, economic, political, social and symbolic capital to analyze the uses of power, and his insistence upon melding the usually separated micro and macro levels of societal theorizing are now embedded in the basic vocabulary of sociology and anthropology. Whether or not in accord with his outlook, serious scholars are obliged to test themselves against his challenges.

Bourdieu also played a considerable role as a public intellectual, taking positions on questions vital to France and to the world more generally. Many of his contributions stem from his important research projects: colonialism, educational inequality, the social foundations of taste in the arts and life styles, social reproduction of status relationships, and more recently, the impact of unchecked globalism on the disadvantaged. The articles in this book represent a sampling of the most recent and durable of the ongoing conversations, debates, and research orientations that Bourdieu launched.

This collection offers insight into central features of Bourdieu's sociology as well as examples of original research inspired by Bourdieua (TM)s work. It will be of great relevance to students of social theory, French culture and theory, political sociology, sociology of culture and education.

This volume is based in large part on a special issue of the journal Theoryand Society [The sociology of Symbolic Power: A Special Issue in Memory of Pierre Bourdieu] edited by David L. Swartz, with the editorial collaboration of Vera L. Zolberg Vol. 332/5-6 (December 2003) Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Sociologists who study the arts have focused on constructing images of "the artist" as a social type and have, therefore, been criticized by art professionals for a lack of attention to the creative process and individual artistic personalities. In this book, the author examines the diverse theoretical approaches to the study of the arts and develops a sociological approach that acknowledges the importance of aesthetic imperatives and the individual creative process while also assessing the institutional, economic, and political influences on the creation of art. The author focuses on the ways in which people become artists, the institutions in which their careers unfold, the public they need to please, and the institutional and political pressures with which they must contend. Particular subjects covered include the differing relations of art to primitive and industrialized societies; the process by which works are "recreated" at different times for new social purposes; the role of the audience in the realization of artistic experiences; and the reasons for the evolution of artistic styles. This book makes a major contribution to the development of a sociology of the arts at a time when the role of the arts in society has become a subject of increasing concern to social scientists.